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CNN International: TikTok CEO To Testify In U.S. House Committee Meeting; TikTok On U.S. Govt.: We Are Not Agents Of China; Police Find Body Near Car Linked To Suspected Shooter; U.S. Fed Raises Interest Rates In A Quarter Point; Trump Attorney To Testify Before Grand Jury Friday; Rare Tornado Rips Through Buildings Near Los Angeles; Man Accused In Seattle Marine Fire, 30 Boats Destroyed; More Agents To Investigate South Carolina Teen's Death; CDC: Three Deaths Linked To Bacteria In Recalled Eye Drops; Off Duty Pilot Steps In For Unwell Southwest Pilot Mid-Flight. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired March 24, 2023 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[04:00:37]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane. Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo are off for the day.

Just ahead on CNN Newsroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMAAL BOWMAN, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Our First Amendment gives us the right to speak freely and to communicate freely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the CCP is willing to lie about its spy balloon and cover up the origins of the worst pandemic in 100 years, they'll lie about using TikTok.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The process of getting inflation back down to 2 percent has a long way to go and is likely to be bumpy.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Do you think the United States is headed for a recession?

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: I think that that is where Jerome Powell is trying to drive it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could hear the rooftop and the --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Metal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- the metal flying up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We thought it was an earthquake. They started screaming earthquake, and then the power just went out. (END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from London, this is CNN Newsroom with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.

MACFARLANE: It's Thursday, March 23rd 8:00 a.m. here in London, 04:00 a.m. in Washington, where in just a few hours, U.S. lawmakers will hear the CEO of TikTok fight back against a government push to ban the app across the country. He's expected to argue that both TikTok and its parent company are not agents for China's government.

The CEO's 10 page prepared statement shows he plans to update lawmakers on steps taken to keep data from American users secure. Despite fears, Beijing could ask for access, TikTok's CEO has made his answer clear in the past.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHOU ZI CHEW, TIKTOK CEO: The Chinese government has actually never asked us for U.S. user data. And we've said this on the record, that even if we were asked for that, we will not provide them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: More than 150 million American users alone use the app every month. Some have said a ban would have a profound effect on the user's freedom of speech. Content creators joined a New York congressman for a press conference ahead of the hearings, claiming that TikTok had had an enormous impact on their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOWMAN: Many of the content creators that I just met with in my office, they talk about -- they talk to me about a sense of family. They talk to me about a sense of community. They talk to me about a place that is helpful to their mental health and to their sense of belonging and wellbeing. They talk to me about finding a place where they could communicate with others like them and learn to love themselves even further.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, CNN's Anna Coren is joining me now live from Hong Kong. Anna, boss of TikTok, facing a grilling in front of Congress in a matter of hours from now. And the future of the app here is really at stake. So what can we expect from this hearing?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I was going to say, Christina, listening to that sound bar, it sounds like somebody's drunk the Kool Aid. But you're right, the CEO of TikTok is certainly preparing for a harsh grilling from U.S. lawmakers as he faces his first congressional hearing over the video app's potential national security risk.

This is what is up for debate. You know, the short form video app that is owned by a Beijing based parent company known as ByteDance has recently been banned by various governments around the world on official government devices. The U.S., the U.K., the European Parliament, various E.U. nations and New Zealand. They've all enforced this ban. But the CEO, Shou Zi Chew has spent millions of dollars lobbying Capitol Hill, and he says that the app poses no threat, denying allegations that it colludes or has an improper relationship with the Chinese government.

Let's take a listen to what Shou said a few days ago on TikTok.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHEW: Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok. Now, this could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you. I'll be testifying before Congress later this week to share all that we're doing to protect Americans using the app and deliver on our mission to inspire creativity and to bring joy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COREN: To bring joy. TikTok, Christina, collects roughly the same amount of data as Facebook or Twitter, but it's the links with a Chinese government that has everybody worried.

[04:05:02]

The FBI director as well as the head of the U.S. National Security Agency, they've both said that TikTok could be a valuable tool for China to shape public opinion in regards to elections, policy making, even in the event of a potential war over Taiwan.

Now, the Biden administration says the only way for TikTok to continue operating in the United States is if its Chinese owners sell their stake in the company. That we understand is highly unlikely because the Chinese government views TikTok's technology as sensitive and critical to Chinese national interests.

And I think it's very interesting that since 2020, the Chinese government has taken steps to ensure that it can veto any sale by ByteDance. To date, we should mention there has been no evidence that Beijing has used TikTok's data for intelligence or other purposes. But it's that deep mistrust between China and the U.S. that really has everybody on heightened alert. Christina?

MACFARLANE: Yes. I guess it depends what side of the fence you're on, Anna, but of course, there's going to be a lot of anxious TikTok fans following proceedings later today.

COREN: Of course.

MACFARLANE: Thanks very much, Anna.

Now, after a shooting of two faculty members at a Denver high school Wednesday, authorities have found a male body less than a mile from the vehicle connected to the suspect. They've not yet identified the body. Colorado police believe 17 year old student Austin Lyle shot two school employees. Parents say this is only one of many violent events that have occurred in the area. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got a text from my daughter today that said, we're in lockdown again, and it's really scary. This one's for real.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the third major, fourth major incident here at East High. The Denver School board is failing us and it's really a problem. How much more is it going to take before people start realizing this place is a ticking time bomb?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, both shooting victims are in hospital, where officials say one is listed in critical condition, the other in serious but stable condition.

Our U.S. financial markets are looking to rebound from significant losses after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a point. There you can see. U.S. Futures all in the green this morning looking up across the Dow, Nasdaq and the S&P 500.

The Fed is working to bring inflation down and avoid any further turmoil in the banking sector. Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated this might be a last rate kite for now. The Dow fell more than 500 points on Wednesday, and the Nasdaq and S&P each lost more than 1.5 percent.

More now from the Fed's decision from CNN's Matt Egan.

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: The Fed is making clear that in their eyes, inflation is still public enemy number one. Despite the recent bank failures, the Fed is forging ahead with its war on inflation, lifting interest rates for the 9th straight meeting.

And benchmark rates are now at their highest level since September of 2007, right before the great recession. Now, the goal remains the same, get inflation under control without breaking something in the economy. But the recent bank failure suggests the Fed already has broken something.

And that is why some experts wanted the Fed to pause here and survey the damage. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, he said they did consider a pause, but ultimately there was unanimous support for this rate hike, in large part because inflation does remain way too high.

Now, for consumers, this means higher borrowing costs, car loans, student debt, you know, mortgage rates are near 20 years highs, and it's never been more expensive to carry a credit card balance.

Now, on the banking crisis, Powell, he did his best to try to reassure the public that bank deposits are safe. Listen to what he said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: Our banking system is sound and resilient with strong capital and liquidity. We will continue to closely monitor conditions in the banking system and are prepared to use all of our tools as needed to keep it safe and sound. In addition, we are committed to learning the lessons from this episode and to work to prevent episodes -- events like this from happening again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: Now, Powell went on to say the Fed is prepared to use all of its tools to keep the banking system strong. Now, the big question is, how much longer will the Fed raise rates? Now, the Fed did drop some hints that it could soon wrap up this inflation fighting campaign.

The Fed's statement no longer says that ongoing rate hikes are likely, just that some further tightening may be needed. And the Fed's projections pencil in just one more rate hike. But I would stress there's just so much uncertainty here. The biggest source of uncertainty is all of this pressure on banks and how the banking crisis is going to make it more expensive for everyone to borrow.

[04:10:02]

Powell, he considered the Fed just doesn't know yet how much all of this will slow the economy. And I think the answer to that question is going to go a long way in determining just how much more work the Fed has to do to get inflation back down. Back to you.

MACFARLANE: Thanks to Matt.

Well, Senate Democrat Elizabeth Warren says the rate hikes will mean 2 million layoffs by the end of the year. She's accusing Fed Chair Jerome Powell of pushing the U.S. towards recession. Here's what she told CNN's Jake Tapper about Powell and the banking crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN: He has spent five years weakening regulations over these multibillion dollar banks. I predicted five years ago, the consequence of that kind of weakening would be that we would see these banks load up on risk, build their short term profits, give themselves ginormous bonuses and big salaries, and then some of those banks will explode. And that is exactly what has happened on Chair Powell's watch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Now, a New York grand jury is expected to meet again today in the case of Donald Trump's alleged hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. It's unlikely they'll hand down any indictment. As sources tell CNN, prosecutors are considering calling more witnesses.

Prosecutors are weighing charges that Trump allegedly falsified business records and violated campaign finance laws. And another investigation into the former president appears to be gaining momentum. This one involves classified documents found at his Mar-a- Lago estate in Florida.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz has the details. KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: The primary defense attorney for Donald Trump, a man named Evan Corcoran, is set to return to the federal grand jury in Washington to answer more questions. The questions that prosecutors want to ask him, and the answers that they believe he will give, are about whether or not Donald Trump was trying to break the law in the response to the classified documents probe at Mar-a-Lago.

So this is a crucial situation that is developed here over the past few hours and days. A federal appeals court in Washington on Wednesday essentially ordered that Corcoran would need to go and testify again to that grand jury, answer questions he hadn't before about his conversations directly with his client, Donald Trump.

The appeals court also said that he would need to turn over documents that he had in his possession, handwritten notes, and transcribed verbal notes to the grand jury investigation as well. This is the grand jury investigation into the potential mishandling of classified records at Mar-a-Lago and possibly obstruction of justice.

We don't know if there will be charges that emanate from this, but what the Justice Department has done so far to get us to this point is really putting an emphasis on how close they believe they are to locking up this case. They believe that there was the advancing of a crime. It's quite significant.

And Evan Corcoran really is the central person, the central witness to the conversations, what was -- what Donald Trump was thinking and wanting to do as the Justice Department was trying to get classified records that he had at Mar-a-Lago back in their possession at the federal government, and that they weren't just turning over all of the things that were there.

Katelyn Polantz, CNN, Washington.

MACFARLANE: Our police in New York scaled the side of a high rise building to prevent a crime suspect from jumping from the 31st floor. Take a look at this. This is the moment when a police officer grappled from above and pushed the suspect back inside.

A law enforcement source says he smashed the window and tried to escape after the FBI attempted to serve a search warrant for suspected wire fraud on Wednesday. The suspect, Ian Mitchell then threatened to jump. But the source says Mitchell was arrested after police forced him back into the building.

Now rare tornado has been confirmed near Los Angeles. The National Weather Service says it touched down Wednesday in the City of Montebello. One person was hurt and more than a dozen buildings were damaged, many beyond repair.

Here's what residents had to say about the storm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was not knowing what to do at that time. I was like, I didn't know what's going on. I was kind of scared. We didn't hide. And then my coworkers told me, oh, we're going to have to hide.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you just don't think Southern California having a storm like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, it's the strongest tornado to hit the city in 40 years. While twisters are rare in California, it's actually the second one to hit the state in as many days. Nicole Comstock with CNN Affiliate KCAL shows us some more of the damage here.

NICOLE COMSTOCK, CNN AFFILIATE, KCAL: That tornado just blasted through the inside of this place, bringing all of these boxes outside, bringing all this metal outside as well. And if you take a look inside this seafood supply company, you can see clear through to the sky tonight there were employees inside when this tornado came through.

[04:15:04]

They tried to pull down this metal door, but unfortunately, they couldn't even get that down against the strength of the wind. So the employees just hid right here in the corner where all these brooms are.

Now, meanwhile, at the time, this tornado was tearing all of this stuff up in the parking lot here, moving these big wooden pallets all over the place. And you can just imagine how dangerous this was for these people at the time, with this wood with nails in it, blowing around in the wind.

MACFARLANE: Those storms in California will move -- start moving east this week. CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more on the forecast.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Here's something you don't normally see, nor do we want to be seeing this. A tornado moving through a populated part of Los Angeles. This is just east of downtown.

Look at the debris just being lofted into the sky. There's some 2 by 4s and some paneling as well. Just incredible to see what happened. The National Weather Service on location determining the exact strength of this confirmed tornado. But one thing's for sure, it caused some significant damage to some of the buildings.

You can see this aerial photograph of one of the warehouses there. Now, when we think of March tornadoes, we typically hone in on the Lone Star State, right? They have 14 on average for the month of March. More the same across the Deep South, averaging about five to seven tornadoes from Mississippi to Georgia.

Now, did you know that California averages one tornado during the month of March? And it just happened to take place in Los Angeles. Incredible. Here it is, radar loop, and you can see it just south and east.

This is an area called Montebello, and it flared up local time, about 11:20 in the morning. And it was a very short lived tornado, but enough to cause, of course, the destruction you saw just a moment ago.

Now, the energy from the same storm system is going to be ejected east from the Rockies, and it's going to move into the Ohio and Mississippi River Valley over the next couple of days. And unfortunately, it's going to be encountering a blocking high pressure system to the north. So it's going to allow for heavy rainfall, more showers and thunderstorms moving over the same locations.

Weather Prediction Center picking up on this moderate risk of flash flooding. Look out, Memphis to Louisville. Anywhere across this area where you see the darker shading of yellow and oranges, we have the potential from 3 to 6 inches of rain through Friday.

National Weather Service picking up on that. Flood watch is in effect for over 20 million Americans, stretching from Indianapolis, Cincinnati, through St. Louis all the way to Oklahoma City. Now, another threat with this round of rough weather across the nation's midsection is the potential for severe weather. We have a multi-day severe weather setup taking shape today.

Slight risk across central Texas as well as central Oklahoma. And then an enhanced risk anticipated across parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and into southern Arkansas as storms start to flare up for the day on Friday. So an active weather period continues across the U.S. Back to you.

MACFARLANE: Thanks to Derek.

Now school workers across the second largest school district in the U.S. are set to hit the picket line for a third and final day in Los Angeles. Schools there have remained closed as custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and other service staff have called for better pay and working conditions.

So far, no deal has been reached. But the district superintendent says they're working towards what he calls a precedent setting contract.

All right, coming up, the U.S. government announces plans to overhaul the country's troubled organ transplant system. Also ahead, former allies to potential rivals for the Republican presidential nomination will take a closer look at what Florida's governor is now saying about Donald Trump and how Trump is firing back.

And later, Boris Johnson still trying to shake off the Partygate hangover. Britain's embattled former prime minister facing a grilling in parliament with his political future hanging in the balance.

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[04:22:54]

MACFARLANE: Hi, welcome back. Police in Seattle, Washington have arrested a man they say started a fire at a marina Wednesday morning. It destroys 30 boats that were in storage at the time. Authorities say there are no signs of pollution from the fire, but they'll continue to monitor the area. They're not released the suspect's identity or his motive yet.

Well, South Carolina is assigning more law enforcement agents to investigate the death of Stephen Smith in 2015. The 19 year old's body was found in the middle of a rural road. An autopsy concluded he was hit by a car, but police reopened the case in 2021 based on information from the investigation into the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. And the case is now being investigated as a homicide. Smith's mother says she thinks her son was killed because he was gay.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDY SMITH, STEPHEN SMITH'S MOTHER: And the only dispute I had was that it was not a hit and run. And that's what I've been saying from the beginning. And I felt my son was murdered, he was beaten to death, and I think it was a hate crime. And I don't care what your name is, that has no value to me. But who -- whatever your name is, you need to be punished for what you did to my son.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: Well, Smith's former classmate Buster Murdaugh denies having anything to do with Smith's death. Murdaugh's father Alex was convicted this month of killing his wife and younger son.

Now, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports two additional deaths now three in total, have been linked to a rare bacteria in recalled eye drops. The drug resistant strain of bacteria has been linked to dozens of infections in nearly 70 people across 16 states.

The agency is warning people to stop using the artificial tears lubricant eye drops that were distributed by EzriCare and Delsam Pharma. The eye drop maker, Global Pharma Healthcare recalled the product last month.

Now, an off duty pilot who was a passenger on Southwest Airlines flight was pressed into action on Wednesday after one of the original pilots needed medical attention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:25:11]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, we're going to get airstairs out here. The captain became incapacitated while enroute. He's in the back of the aircraft right now with a flight attendance, but we need to get him on an ambulance immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACFARLANE: The plane bound for Columbus, Ohio was in the air for a little over an hour before returning safely to Las Vegas. A nurse on board helped care for the stricken pilot. Southwest has not released details about the pilot's condition. The FAA says it will investigate the incident. Now, the United States organ transplant system has often been criticized as inadequate, with thousands of people dying every year while waiting for a transplant. Now plans are underway to tackle the problem.

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen reports.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: The Biden administration is suggesting a major rehaul for the nation's organ transplantation system. Let's take a look at some of the statistics behind this move.

In the United States right now, about 100,000 people are waiting for organ transplants, that's hearts, lungs, kidneys, other organs. 6,000 people die every year waiting for transplants and 70 deaths have been reported due to system failure from 2010 to 2020.

Here's what the Biden administration is suggesting. One group, the United Network for Organ Sharing, has had the contract to run the nation's organ transplant system for more than 30 years. The Biden administration is saying we're going to seek out other groups to have contracts to run this system.

Let's take a look at what a Senate Finance Committee report said last year about UNOS, the United Network for Organ Sharing. They said, "From the top down, the U.S. transplant network is not working, putting Americans lives at risk. The UNOS information technology system is outdated, mismanaged, and insecure."

The report went on to call that UNOS technology decrepit and said there is no apparent solution in sight. Back to you.

MACFARLANE: All right, still to come, the deepening rift between Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and former President Donald Trump. Will tell you what DeSantis is now saying about Trump's hush money payments to an adult film star.

Plus, Russia launches a wave of deadly strikes hitting residential buildings in Ukraine. We'll have the latest report just ahead.

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